How common is the surname Pillai?

1,944 people in the United States had the surname Pillai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 158,820 Americans. It ranked 15,163rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pillai?

Simone Ashley, British actress.

Where is the surname Pillai most common?

Wikidata records people named Pillai in the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Pillai getting more or less common?

More common. 1,257 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,944 in 2010, up 55%.

The surname Pillai

A Tamil surname, carried by 1,944 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex P400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pillai is more common than 90.7% of them.

Origin

Tamil origin

Borrowed from Tamil பிள்ளை (piḷḷai).

One of 15 Tamil surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,944 people named Pillai in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 158,820 Americans. That is up 55% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,257.

#15,163

rank among US surnames

1,944

people in 2010

0.7

per 100,000 Americans

+54.7%

change since 2000 (was #19,806)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#15,159	Hepworth	1,945	158,738
#15,163	Welcher	1,944	158,820
#15,166	Martelli	1,943	158,901
#15,171	Ferman	1,942	158,983

Who is named Pillai

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Pillai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.1% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.2% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 91%
White (not Hispanic) 4.1%
Two or more races 3.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.9%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Pillais

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Simone Ashley
British actress, born 1995

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Pillay

Surnames that sound like Pillai

Pillai has the Soundex code P400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P400.

Other Tamil surnames

All 15 Tamil surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Pillai come from?: Borrowed from Tamil பிள்ளை (piḷḷai).
How common is the surname Pillai?: 1,944 people in the United States had the surname Pillai in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 158,820 Americans. It ranked 15,163rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pillai?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Pillai identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 4.1% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Pillai?: Simone Ashley, British actress.
Where is the surname Pillai most common?: Wikidata records people named Pillai in the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Pillai getting more or less common?: More common. 1,257 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,944 in 2010, up 55%.
What are other spellings of Pillai?: Pillay.